My March Madness

by Renee on March 4, 2012

My affinity for college hoops in the month of March is only heightened by my excitement of waiting to hear from several colleges that my daughter Ali could be attending this fall. So far she has been accepted at Tulane (in New Orleans, scene of this year’s Final Four tourney), Hofstra, Washington & Jefferson and Washington College. We are waiting for notices from the schools she is most interested in– her Final Four include Brandeis, William & Mary, American U. and Georgetown. (I can just see her playing her saxophone along with the pep band in the stands of those NCAA basketball games.)

It has been a long winter getting to this month–we expect to hear from the first of those three in the next few weeks, and the Hoyas are torturing us by making us wait until an April 1st notification date. Of course we’re expected to make our deposits and commitments by May 1st. We have visited all her top picks already, except for Brandeis. Should she get an admit there, we may be making a trip to Boston over her spring break for their Accepted Students Day. I may have to pop in at Boston Beer and say hello to my friend Jim Koch if we do. In any case, I can’t wait to know for certain where my girl (and my money) will be headed for the next four years. It has been making me a bit of a crazy person.

Meanwhile, Cleveland Magazine has published its own form of March madness. Recently on Twitter, their editors asked Clevelanders for some favorite local blogs. I’m thrilled to have been mentioned and included in their “Nothing But Net” feature–which pits me against the very wonderful GreenDogWine in the first bracket. Voting opens up on March 5th! It’s a silly contest of course, but a great introduction to some wonderful blogs and bloggers in our fair city.

Then of course, St. Patrick’s Day weekend will soon be here, and that’s March Madness in itself. I’m looking forward to my Irish beer dinner with The Chubby Cook on Friday the 16th, as well as the high holiday–which falls on a Saturday this year. You’ll likely see me raising a few pints with friends at Chardon BrewWorks–they’ve got kegs and eggs starting at 7a.m.! That’s more than enough March Madness for me. Slainte!

I had a phenomenal experience. Wouldn’t change it for the world. I’m a big believer in liberal arts education, and I needed a small school. I think there are more students there now, only 1200 when I went. BIG Greek life too. 80% of the campus was Greek when I was there.

We enjoy reading about all the beers and beer stories this blog reports on. We are in the planning stages for a new brewery in Northeastern USA called Charter Oak Brewing Company LLC and our business plan is to grow to over 25,000BBL within 5 years.
The breweries and stories you report on, allow for much encouragement.